Chen Yi
Charismatic concert violinist, Chen Yi, is the first Asian to win the Gold Medal at the China International Violin competition (2008). Second and third prizes were awarded to violinists from Russia and Germany. Chen Yi (or Tina, as she is called in the West) began violin studies with her father, Chen Yong-Gang, at the age of four. Hard work and the prodigy’s life led her to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where her playing flourished under the guidance of legendary teacher, Lin Yao-Ji.

As part of the Mendelssohn Bicentennial Celebrations, Ms. Chen was invited to per- form the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Beijing’s new National Center for the Performing Arts. In 2010 she will perform the Nielsen Violin Concerto as part of the Danish Gala Concert in EXPO in Shanghai. This major event marks artistic dialogue between Denmark and China.

“The most melting performance I have ever heard in a concert” - spoken by German violinist and conductor, Rainer Kussmaul.

“The perfect union of technique and musicianship” - by Sergey Kravchenko, profes- sor at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Chen Yi has given recitals and concerto performances around the world including the United States, Italy, Finland, Japan, Monaco, Denmark and China (in Hong Kong and mainland PRC). Chen Yi performs on a fine Shen Fei violin (Panda) made in 2004, Beijing, China. Her bow is by American maker, Douglas Raguse.

Lars Hannibal
Guitarist and lutenist Lars Hannibal was born 1951 and began playing guitar at the age of 15, his early inspirations being Bob Dylan and The Beatles. In 1972 Hannibal began formal lessons at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus, Denmark, and from 1977-80 he studied lute with Toyohiko Satoh in The Hague, Holland. Following his studies, Hannibal formed Duo Concertante with violinist Kim Sjøgren, and from 1980-94 toured Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and UK, performing more than a thousand concerts and recording 10 CDs for EMI. In 1992 Lars Hannibal formed a duo with recorder virtuoso Michala Petri, with whom he has toured the world. 1994 they released their first CD, Souvenir, on RCA/BMG. This was followed by Air in 1997 and Kreisler Inspirations in 2001, which received the German Deutscher Schallplattenpreis ECHO in the category chamber music. Their recording of music by Danish composer Thomas Koppel Los Angeles Street Concerto was awarded Best Classical CD 2006 in Denmark.

In 2006, Michala Petri and Lars Hannibal launched their own recording company, OUR Recordings, with their duo CD, Siesta. In 2007 the young label came to international attention when Movements - featuring the World Premiere recordings of concertos by Amargós, Börtz, and Stucky - was nominated for Best Contemporary Composition in the American Grammys®. In October 2009 they marked OUR Recordings 10th release with another duo CD Café Vienna, with 1900 century music.

Since 2004 Lars Hannibal has collaborated extensively on several projects featuring Chinese music and musicians. The first recording from this artistic exploration was Spirits - East meets West (2007) – an album with the highly estimated Chinese Xiao (Bamboo Flute) player Chen Yue. The same year he formed an ensemble with Chen Yue, Michala Petri and Pipa player Yan Jiang called Quartet - East meets West, which has per-formed in several countries.

In addition to work as a chamber musician, Hannibal is a prolific arranger, and a tireless advocate of musical projects that cross cultural and musical borders, amongst other as music curator of the Danish Gala Concert in EXPO Shanghai 2010, where the counter- point is artistic dialogue between Denmark and China.